Device for playing cards



Dec. 28, 1937. v i c. T 2,103,460

DEVICE FOR PLAYING CARDS Filed Sept. 21, 1956 INVENTOR Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED QFFI CE 2 Claims.

cate bridge, and other similar games, one or more tables are used with four players at each table. At each table a deck of 52 cards is shuffled in the 5 ordinary way and the cards are dealt into four hands of 13 cards each. In playing the game, instead of gathering the cards into tricks, each player keeps his cards separate, placing them face up in front of him when he plays to a trick. When a trick is complete the four cards are turned face down, each card still in front of its owner, but so placed that the cards shall point lengthwise towards the partners who won the trick. By counting up how many of the 13 cards 15 played by any one player point on one direction,

it is easy to see how many tricks were Won by that side. 7

Bridge and other similar games are not easily learned and are usually studied with the assistance of a teacher or instructor who has had more or less experience in playing the game. To facilitate the giving of this instruction, standard hands are used, which hands are set, forth in instruction books, and the deck of 52 cards is divided into these four standard hands, which are given to the players who play the hands according to the directions of the instructor, or of the instruction book. It usually takes two people from five to eight minutes to separate a deck of 30 52 cards into these four separate hands, and if the sorting is done in front of the players the players will know in advance what are in the various hands. It is desirable to confine the players knowledge at the start of the game to the cards of 35 his own hand, it being understood that as soon as the trump is established one of the hands will be laidon the table and exposed to the View of the other three players.

The standard hands referred to are four hands 40 in each case which have previously been studied by experts and the player will have at all times, for each hand, a standard against which he can compare his play and in connection with which he can receive expert advice and ready reference 5 to an instruction book which contains the rea sons and rules cf play which should be considered in connection with the particular hands.

In order to expedite the playing of the game, and the giving of instruction to players in con- 50 nection therewith, by an instructor or by selfinstruction, I have invented four devices, each of which embodies the characters of 13 cards, and four of which devices embody the characters of the 52 cards of the deck classified into hands 55 that are suitable for studying and for giving ex- It is a well known fact that in playing duplipert instruction in connection therewith to facilitate the teaching of the game.

Each of these four devices or cards is printed with 13 characters arranged preferably in a semicircle, and the card is slit radially from its outer 5 circular edge, so that the characters appear each on a separate slip, and each slip is separated from the adjacent slip on either side thereof by the slits that have been cut into the card. The slips are all attached at one end to the base 10 of the device, from which each slip can easily be detached, separately, and used as the slips are played instead of the cards they represent.

It will be understood that four of these devices constitute a set and are used as a substitute for a 15 deck of 52 cards, each player of the group of four players holding one of these devices as his hand, and as the hands are played the separate slips are torn from the devices and are laid on the table.

It will be obvious that each set of these devices 20 can be used only for the playing of one hand, but duplicate copies of them can be printed ad infinitum, at very small expense, one advantage being that no time is lost in separating the deck of 52 cards into four standard hands, and checking the hands to see that no mistake has been made.

It will also be understood that a number of sets of these devices, each containing four hands of different characters, will be printed, so that as many different sets can be used as there are hands to be played in the course of instruction, and that the cards of any one hand will not be duplicated in any hand of the other sets, but that all hands of the various sets will be different.

In a standard text book on duplicate bridge about fifty different sets of four hands each are set forth, each of which is intended to illustrate one or moreparticular points in the game, and instead of sorting out the cards for the purpose 40 of playing these sets of hands, these devices can be, used, and thus greatly facilitate the instruction of the players at moderate cost, with a great saving of time.

It will also be understood, that if a series of tables are used in the instruction of the players, copies of the same sets of devices can be supplied to each table and the sets can be played in a. definite order without the moving of cards from one table to another, and, if desired, the players at each table can all be playing the same set of hands at the same time.

The foregoing sets forth several objects of my invention. Another object of my invention is make the device symmetrical in form, so that one side of the device may be folded on the other side and be used as a back therefor, it being understood that only one of the circular edges will be printed and slit and that the other circular edge will be left whole.

These and other objects of the invention will be illustrated in the drawing, described in the specification, and pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of one of my devices showing 13 slips attached to a base and divided radially, each of which slips bears a diiferent character.

Figure 2 represents one of these devices held by the north player after it has been folded and three of the slips have been removed therefrom.

Figure 3 illustrates one'o'f these devices as it will appear held by the east player after it has been folded and three slips have been removed therefrom.

Figure 4 illustrates one of these devices as it will appear held by the south player after it has been folded and three slips have been removed therefrom.

Figure 5 illustrates one of these devices as it will appear held by the west player after it has been folded and three slips have been removed therefrom.

Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9 show the position in which the slips would be placed on the table as they are played from the devices shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively.

In the drawing like reference numerals indicate like parts.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a plan view of my device with 13 characters printed thereon and before the device is used for playing. In this device there is a semicircular section I at the top, and a semicircular section 2 at the bottom thereof, the sections being connected together by a neck 3. This neck can be folded on the dotted line shown in Figure 1, in which case the section I will be folded under the section 2 and form a back therefor. When folded in this way, the solid or uncut section i will conceal the section 2. The part 2 is slit radially, as indicated by the lines 5, 5, into 13 sections or slips, each of which is connected to the neck '3 on the dotted semicircular line 6. Each of these slips has characters printed thereon representing one of the cards 01.

the deck.

The player uses this device by folding the solid section 4 so that it is placed under the cut section 2, and forms a back therefor which conceals the slips from other players when it is held in an upright position. The hand is played by tearing off slips in the order desired and placing them on the table instead of the cards heretofore used. In Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 I have shown views of four of the devices in the north, east, south and west positions that the players will occupy when playing the game, the devices being marked N, E, S, and W, respectively. From each of these devices three slips have been removed and placed on the table. In each of these devices ten slips remain attached to the central portion and are yet to be played. When the hands are played, all of the slips will be removed, except possibly the last one, which can be displayed or played by laying down the whole device.

As above explained, each of these devices contains 13 characters and the four devices marked N, E, S, W, collectively, contain the characters of all the cards of the deck and the slips bearing these devices are used instead of the cards of the deck.

It will also be understood that these devices are printed in sets of four, with the characters differently arrange thereon, so that in the various sets no two hands will be alike and these sets of devices can be used at one or more tables for the purpose of playing bridge or whist in any of the various forms in which those games are played.

It will also be understood that usually the characters printed on the various slips will correspond to the characters in the hands published in some instruction book, and will be used in connection with the instructions of the book for that particular hand.

I claim:

1. A device for playing cards comprising two symmetrical circular sections joined together by a neck, one of said sections having radial slits therein separating the section into tapered slips, each of said slips having characters thereon representing the value of a playing card, the second section being adapted to be piaced under the first section by folding the neck and forming a back for the slips of the first section.

2. A device for playing cards comprising a circular base, a series of slips attached at one end radially to said base and being separated from the adjacent slips by radial slits, each of said slips bearing characters representing the value of a playing card, and all of the slips on one device bearing characters representing the values of the playing cards for one hand in a particular game.

RICHARD C. HART. 

